Most likely you will need a building permit to erect new walls, which will be issued by your city or county’s Building Department. If your building is equipped with an automatic sprinkler system, you may need to hire a fire sprinkler contractor to add and/or relocate sprinkler heads, in which case you would also need a permit from the fire district. If your building is equipped with a fire alarm system and any alterations occur to that system, you will also need a permit from the fire district for any alterations made to the fire alarm system.

Permits are required to ensure that the work being performed will be done in a safe manner, will not violate any requirements of the building or fire Codes, and will not prevent building systems from operating as intended. For more information visit our Permits / Inspections page.

Most likely, no. In the spirit of customer service, the Fire Prevention Division has developed what are called “fast-track” permits for minor alterations to fire sprinkler and fire alarm systems. To qualify for a fast-track permit, work on an existing sprinkler system typically must be limited to 30 or fewer sprinkler heads. For existing fire alarm systems, work typically must be limited to 10 devices or less. In some cases, fast-track permits may even be completed while you wait depending on the availability of Fire Prevention Division personnel. However, generally speaking, fast-track permits do not take more than one to two days to process.

Fast-track permit fees are based on the contractor’s valuation of the work to be performed and are calculated based on the adopted fee schedule within the fire code that is adopted by the city or county in which the work will take place. All fast-track permit fees must be paid prior to the permit being released by the fire district. The fire district accepts cash and checks, as well as Visa, Discover and MasterCard credit cards, as forms of payment for all assessed fees.